During these in-between months without a general election on the immediate horizon, push-polling takes on a different look. It’s a tool used also by social-issue activists in order to demonstrate the meteoric rise of one “correct” public opinion or other. And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is getting pretty good at it.

PETA claims that “the federal government does not ensure the humane treatment of animals raised for food.” There are literally hundreds of pages of federal regulations on the subject. [for starters, see here, and here, and here, and here]

PETA also claims that a punitive excise tax on meat (“similar to the tax on tobacco products”) would somehow reduce Americans’ risk of heart disease. But according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, coronary disease rates among Americans dropped dramatically between 1950 and 1996 (from 307.4 per 100,000 to just 134.6), at the same time meat consumption was on the rise.

These blatant falsehoods, and others, were part of PETA’s effort to brainwash Americans in 2002. Asked for comment, a Zogby spokesman told Mr. Murphy: “Well, we’ve worked with PETA and groups like the Humane Society before, so we trust them.”